Pelini, new-look Owls ready for spring practice

For the first time, Carl Pelini feels as if he has a Football Bowl Subdivision program at FAU.

The Owls will begin their spring practices on Monday, culminating with a spring game on April 20.

As Pelini took inventory of his team, he noticed a distinct change.

He said the conditioning of his team is "light years" ahead of where it was last year, when Pelini entered his first spring practices as FAU coach. Then, he noted that he lost valuable practice time because he and his coaching staff had to work players into shape. This year, he sees his FAU team in game-shape before practices even start.

The change has carried a bit of a surprise for the second-year coach.

"They look different," he joked this week.

Pelini credits the hard line stances he took in his first year with making the start of his second season easier.

"Having a structure in place is so important," Pelini said. "It's going to make us so much more efficient."

That structure trickles down to the players, but Pelini noted that his coaching staff has bought into the program as well. They too, are in a better place for the start of the second season of Pelini's tenure.

"We're always going to start back at the beginning," Pelini said. "But I see those first couple days as review days, and then we're moving on to some pretty intricate stuff. I think our guys are ready for it."

• The FAU baseball team split its two-game, mid-week series with Maine. After dropping Tuesday's game 8-0, the Owls bounced back with a 15-6 win over the Bears. FAU hosts FIU for a three-game series this weekend. Friday's game starts at 6:30 p.m.